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Tuesday, March 26, 2013

First Impressions: The New Omnipod UST400

I started today on the newest Omnipod Insulin Management System, the UST400. (For an update on how I'm doing on the new system after one month, click here.)

For those following my ongoing pump parade, I had left Omnipod last year after over 3 years on their UST200 PDM and original pods because I was frustrated with kinked cannulas and occlusions. From there, I jumped back and forth between my out of warranty backup pump (the Cozmo 1800) and my brand new shiny Tandem tslim (that hasn't worked out for me).

And through a strange set of circumstances, I found myself back at Insulet's door just weeks after their new, smaller Omnipod system had been released. Right as my original Omnipod system warranty expired. Right time, right place, and hopefully an improved user experience.

These are my first impressions.
The new pods are what they promised - lower profile, lighter weight, thinner, shorter, and in every way smaller.

It feels like less weight on my skin. I put the first one on my belly, even though I have always had issues keeping belly pods adhered.

It felt like the gauge might be thinner. (I'll look that up and get back to you.) Pay no attention to the spots on my belly from the insets I wore in the days prior. Also, thank me for cropping out my vitiligo/c-section/linea negra circus that is the area near my belly button. It ain't pretty, but it is what it is.

The adhesive is an improvement in the sense that the pod itself is significantly better welded to the hypafix tape, and being lighterweight, probably won't tear away as easily.

I'm not going to pull any punches with you, dear readers. This pod fell off my belly in the shower not six hours after I put it on (and I used IV prep!). The good news though is that, while the adhesive didn't stick to my skin the way I'd hoped, it was really hard to get the adhesive off of the pod. With the old pods, you could cock an eyebrow at it funny and the darn thing would peel away from its tape. But I got the tape off so that I could show you its delicious underbelly.

They've tinted the cannula blue for better visibility, though to be honest, at the angle I always find myself wearing a pod, I don't believe this is going to help. But if you wanted to have a friend or family member check it, it'd be more visible to them, I suppose.

They've also added a pink horseshoe shaped fixture in the top of the pod to indicate that the cannula deployed properly. Nice, but I never remember having a pod in three years whose cannula did not deploy. I'm not sure if this was a common complaint or if the FDA required it or what.

Here's another shot of the new pod with two Verio IQs for reference.

Don't get your hopes up about any kind of strip change though. The new system, despite rumored partnerships between Insulet and One Touch, still takes the same old Freestyle strips (pictured below).

But look how tiny the little 10-pack boxes are!

Nearly everything about the new system is smaller. Look at this itty bitty fill needle? SOOOO much shorter than the fill needles of yesteryear.

There's one thing that's not smaller though. The PDM. It is exactly the same size. Shape. Feel. The buttons are a bit softer and more pressable, thankfully, but it will still fit your snappy color skins from the UST200. It's black, supposedly to resemble smartphones, but it's the same PDM you know and love with a few upgrades to the brain.

First and most obvious is the ID screen. I know of people with multiple podders in their family who will see this screen as a breath of fresh air when tiptoeing in to check nighttime blood sugars. For the rest of us, this is a potential annoyance. Before proceeding to any other screen, you must hit the soft key for Confirm. This includes when you insert a strip to test your blood glucose. So you insert a strip, confirm your name, then have to (still, really?) confirm the code of the for-all-intents-and-purposes-non-coding Freestyle strips, and then you are prompted for your blood drop. (But you have options for what color the screen is!) Eh, it's not that bad, really.

But there are more. Everything you do now, even entering a carb count for your bolus, requires you to Confirm. Confirm. Confirm. I can tell you now that I'm going to get tired of the confirmation screens the same way I did on the t:slim. This is probably all due to safety checks endorsed for all the right reasons. But come on, have you ever tried to turn off a PlayStation3? No really. No, are you sure? No, are you sure you want to power it off. Okay, one last time...

The best features of the new system center around Insulin on Board (IOB). In past iterations of the Omnipod, mealtime insulin was not considered in the IOB - only correction insulin. It now considers food insulin as onboard insulin, like many of its competitors' pumps (with the exception of Medtronic). That change will take some getting used to for people for whom the pod has been their only system.

Secondly, IOB is now displayed prominently on the home screen at all times. YES. Also, YES.

My biggest beef is with the things that they didn't change about the system. I had hoped that the system would retain your extended bolus information in the event of a pod change the way I loved that the Cozmo did. If you had to change your set mid-extended bolus on the Cozmo, after you got everything set up, it would remind you that you had been running an extended bolus, tell you how much was left, and ask if you wanted to continue it. When my pod fell off in the shower with the kids tonight, I was in the middle of an extended bolus for some honey-seared Chinese food. Holy wontons. The pod change obliterated that information and I instead did a retest and rebolus and all worked out (so far).

They also didn't add extra tape near the nose of the pod. This is where I frequently found myself losing adherence and actually where it came up during my shower tonight. This does not make me happy.

The new case is as flimsy and cheap as the old one but they did add a velcro strap (left) that accommodates the PDM while in the silicone skin as well as a little black pillow (right) that's supposed to protect the screen. The mesh pocket on the back (not pictured) is as flimsy as ever. And we're supposed to hold a spare pod there? No, thank you. That pocket will be ripped before you can say "Two Toddlers."

All in all, I'm cautiously optimistic. I put Pod 2 on my upper arm. As expected, I can't feel it and it does weigh less than the old ones. I'll see what all I knock it into tomorrow and keep you all posted.

Although I've been a faithful Omnipod user for over 5 years (I LOVE the tubeless and remote control features - my clothes rarely have either a belt or pockets), I have found the Co-Pilot system for downloading the PDM's onboard statistics a complete failure. It is completely unreliable. And trying to get help for this has become a total nightmare. Unless you happen to not have a job or anything else to do but wait on hold on the phone for hours at a time - maybe then you can get assistance. The promised call backs do NOT happen, or they do and the person leaves only a first name that cannot be reached using their antiquated phone system (did he do that on purpose?). I have had to tell my endocrinologist twice already that I've been unable to download the information he needs from the PDM. It looks like he'll keep on hearing that from me, which will for sure affect his ability to make adjustments and manage my condition. (And will also likely affect his likelihood of recommending this system to his other patients.) Their lame website does not provide an email tool for communicating with customer service, so the only way to get in touch is by phone - which has become an issue all by itself. I don't know if the company grew too fast can can't staff up or what. But this frustration is now causing me to seriously shop around for a different pump system... it didn't used to be like this...

I agree, I never received any call backs after leaving several messages over a period of several days...you are correct/it did not use to be like this. I have been diabetic for 26 years and started on a pump for the first time 2 years ago...it may be time to look elsewhere.

I hate the omni pod for many reasons, but one that is high on the list is the inept order and delivery department. I will go far out of my way to let my MD know how I feel about the system and how he should not recommend this system to other patients. I will also recommend to the DNE that she not promote this poorly made product. Oh, I'm also a nurse who will go above and beyond to dissuade any and all patients who even dally with the contemplation of acquiring this product.

I have been a diabetic for 39 years and always managed well. I finally started on pump 1 1/2 years ago and chose the Omnipod for its tubeless features. The old system was larger/heavier pods and the meter large and other than Occlusions, which happened often,it worked well and customer service was good. I was shipped the new system about 2 months ago and have had nothing but problems. Out of an entire 2 boxes of pods about 4 actually worked til empty and the rest I had pod errors. You cannot get thru to customer service unless you are willing to sit on hold for 1/2 hour and if you leave a message no one ever calls you back. When you do get someone, they have 100 questions you need to answer about every condition that day and time when each pod failed and they have to ask those questions about every single pod. Its very frustrating. like they don't believe you. So you wait 1/2 hour, then have to spend 1/2 hour answering questions to get the failed pod replaced. They are having serious management issues and one Rep admitted they were having issues with new pods. I would like to switch but cannot go to tube system. if anyone knows of another tubeless system, let me know. I do like the smaller pods but feel they may have not perfected it.

we are having the same problem! loved the old pods and very rarely had issues, but now we are getting pod errors almost everyday and the pod will deactivate and demand that you change immediately! very frustrating and having similar problems with customer service (getting through, unreturned messages, 100 questions, etc.) i just googled to see if anyone else was in the same boat...glad to see it's not just us! they kinda made me feel like i was doing something wrong. :(

Oh good times. I'm a 23 year old guy who was on the Medtronic pump for over 10 years. In August I started the new OmniPod system for the "tubeless feature" and auto-insertion with the 6mm cannula. Here's the thing: the system works wonderfully if the pod doesn't alarm. I received 40 pods, 4 boxes, with my starter kit, and so far, 12 of them have failed (that's over one box!). Two of them were occlusions (one can usually tell - it HURTS), but the other 10 alarms were during normal activity or right after a bolus. There were a few times where I would change my pod and then an hour later have to change it AGAIN. Of course then my blood sugar would end up high. Not to mention how much insulin I have wasted. So that's my first issue. The other issue with it is I can only wear a pod for three-ish days, instead of 4. I was told by Insulet that after 72 hours, insulin at body temperature would be far less potent. I thought hmmm I'm not so sure that's true. For ONE more day?I'm hoping to not have as many alarms with my next shipment of pods (and the remaining 8 with my starter kit). If all these alarms happen with my next shipment, I will strongly consider going back to Medtronic, even though I don't want to. It will work out one way or another!

I to have been an omnipod user for at least 5 years. Received new meter and pods about 2 weeks ago and have had nothing but problems with pods. No point in calling because you will be on hold forever, and if you leave a message, no on will ever return call. If I continue to have problems will go back to injections as much as I hate to. If I can go back to old pod would do so.

I live in New England and have not had any problems with customer service. I called on a Saturday, about help with co pilot and was called back on Monday morning when the techs were in. It turns out the icon was on my homescreen and I didn't think to look there! My rep from insulet emails me back immedialtely and when I called to change my order I had less than 1 minute of wait time to talk to a rep. I think the insulet service is very good.

My friend is a college student who depends on the OmniPod to control his diabetes. His OmniPod started malfunctioning 5 weeks ago, and he ended up in the hospital with DKA. We were assured that a new pump would be shipped within 24 hours. IT STILL HAS NOT ARRIVED, 5 WEEKS LATER. He is now it the hospital AGAIN with DKA. We have called at least 5 times, not to mention the times his doctor has called, and nothing has been done. Needless to say, we have been very displeased with the service we have received from the OmniPod company.

I'm a former omnipod user. A very good idea that was so poorly executed. While doing a blood check the monitor interrupted and ruined the test by telling me I need to do a blood check after changing pods. This is one of many bad programming choices they made. Now let's talk about their billing department. I don't know how many calls I had to make before I finally gave up. They would not Bill my primary insurance (Medicare) even after I told them I know they will deny the claim but my secondary insurance (blue shield) won't pay until you've billed the primary.I even filled out a form requesting they do this. Someone in their billing department decided that blue shield would do the same as Medicare and decided to just charge me the full amount. I have a CGM from Dexcom who did what I requested and billed Medicare and now blue shield is paying for my CGM sensors.I make this point to show that omnipod's billing department is obviously incorrect about blue shield's coverage policy.

Sarah, I highly recommend visiting this site and "self-training:" http://www.myomnipodtraining.com/ under the existing users tab. It's a short slideshow that covers each of the nuances that have changed between the systems.

Unfortunately, I was required to attend training with my CDE. The system was shipped to her office (my endo's rules). She let me do all of the inputting though. We both assumed I knew what I was doing.

Thanks for the review! Like the IOB feature, but honestly I know people fuss a lot about it, but it never was a dealbreaker on the pump for me, there was always the workaround with backing out of screens if needed. I am going to loathe the confirm, confirm, confirm screen, I just know it. Like the blue cannula, as for the pink insertion cue, we are the same as you, never a problem in 3 years of podding. Case, shmase, Insulet is known for lousy cases so why should they change, right?! And I am with you on the cancelling out of any extend bolus when pod changing. I always have to get paper and pen out and figure it. Seems a little 1980 Insulet and not very 2013. Yeah and ugh, all at the same time. Good luck Melissa, keep us posted!

Not looking forward to all the confirmations. I understand the safety feature, but I don't think we should be held captive to this kind of thing. I feel we should have the option to turn it off. Pumps deliver insulin. It's prone to manual error at any point in time. The confirmations don't change that. It might help an absent minded person. But those of us who have been doing this for forever without incident....ok I'll stop.

I thought there was some kind of alert about the remaining extended bolus before you stopped a Pod. Although it doesn't prompt you to restart it upon starting a new one, you were at least reminded of what was left so you didn't completely miss the info. Not so?

Lo, yes, you're right. But it still requires you to retain that information and re-input it yourself. The amount of undelivered bolus would also be listed in your insulin delivery history (mine shows that .70u and 44min were remaining on my extended bolus from last night). I just feel it's a no-brainer that the next pod should be sent that information.

I just started on the OmniPod on March 18. Hadn't done pumping in over 10 years and was waiting for the smaller pods. I'm absolutely LOVING IT!! I don't know why anyone uses a pump with tubing. So far, I've not had any issues with keeping the pod on for the full 3 days (knock on wood).

Thanks for the review. While I am looking forward to many of the advantages, I am not looking forward to the confirm screens... that's going to be a real pain in the middle of the night when I want to test/correct/go back to sleep as quickly as possible.

I have to wait until insurance will cover a new PDM (sometime this Fall) but really looking forward to the smaller pods etc.!! FYI... my stomach is the only place I can wear the pod and rarely have a problem with it staying on. The key (for me anyway) is to give the pod a good HARD push just prior to inserting the cannula. I KNOW it sounds simple but it really helps!

Wow so lucky. Us current users dont even have a trasition date. I spoke to Omnipod today and they were not helpful at all I guess it pays not to be a current customer, I wonder how many current users will get as mad as me and search for a new pump somewhere else.

While I understand the frustration, certainly, Insulet is saying it will be a 3-6 month transition of their existing 45,000 customers at NO charge to in warranty customers - something you're unlikely to ever be promised from their competitors.

But... Even if I wanted the system be it, paying out of pocket OR resubmitting through insurance... I can not get it due being an existing user. This is the frustrating part. I have a yound child that would benefit due to surface area and I can not get it despite our provider and insurances willingness to order/purchase. Our warranty is up at the end of this year. I do not agree with how this was handled. Very frustrating as you are stuck ordering the old product with no date in site. So, no, you are not alone being angry.

Idk who you get your pods thru but i order my daughters from solara medical and they sent me an email today telling me about the 400, i didnt know it existed. Anyways, they told me to call them, i will have new one shipped and tell them how many pods i have left and they will replace with new ones, also that she can be swapped over by time they send out monthly pod shipment to us, which is in less than 2 wks. So, check with who you get your pods from.

I'm disappointed that the new PDM does not support the use of the old pods as I have about 10 boxes of unopened ones! They won't allow me to swap them (understandably so, from a business perspective) but from MY perspective, I'd love to have ten boxes of the new pods. I am so pleased with the new ones, how much firmer and "tighter" they feel when attached. No more jiggling like a jell-0 block on my arm!

I'm in agreement with comments about the confirm screen but like I said above, I'm surprised they wouldn't have allowed for syncing with old pods as well....

Thank you for your review Melissa, but I disagree with your statement about OmniPod having to switch their existing 45,000 customers/I am currently on the old system and tried to contact anyone at OmniPod for the the past week (due to running dangeriously low on the Pods that I have). Left 4 messages after waiting on hold for 20 minutes on four different days with no reply. Finally on the fifth day, I called the new user line and what do you know, someone picked up immediately! I understand that they have a lot to distribute, HOWEVER, they should not be catering to new customers until they have had a chance to switch out their existing ones. Or perhaps they should have waited to release their product until they had the staff/resources to support it. Also, good luck getting through to get support of any kind.

I am at Witts end. Been promised since April with a new system... I now no new system...no old pods...and just paid for new pods that I cant use.....cant get old pods....expired warranty. ..told to purchase extended warranty. ..so I can get edge park to send a new system....edgepark telks me insulet corp is responsible until September 1...insulet says my warranty expired 8 15 and edge parks responsible...hmmmmmmmm. now my 13 yr old son is forced to go on needles again! So much for high quality customer sa tisfsction....not to mention a 2 hr wait on phone....crappy to treat us devoted customers this way.

I am brand new to this omnipod device. I have been on a Medtronic pump for almost 5 years. As much as I like not having to worry about tubing now I have to worry about carrying another cellphone size looking thing around. Me being the impatient person I am I had mine set and tried it out before the person even came to train me. I guess it will take some getting used to, although it is nice to use a different site, mine had been on my belly for almost 5 years and now I can wear it on my back and I no longer have it digging into my stomach and hip when I bike. I haven't had a problem with the adhesive yet although sometimes it feels like its pulling and irritating my skin.

After speaking to rep today at OmniPod, it looks like they just started distributing to their current users 4 weeks ago...and since they keep stating that they have 40,000 customers and they are severely understaffed, I would not count on anything arriving at your doorstep any too soon. Should have waited until they were equipt to deal with the transition, unless you were lucky enough to be a new customer.

We participated in the cut the cord program - having used medtronic for the last 2 yrs. We started the Omnipod system on 4/16 and today just went back to the medtronic. 60% of our pods occluded. Omnipod has been great about replacing them but my 17 yr old is getting tired of the incessant beeping when it occludes or worse yet some fatal error that we aren't sure how to stop the beeping pod! He is so bummed because he really liked the tubeless feature. Even the pod the CDE put on him 8 hours later occluded!!! Wondering if this isn't the real reason they are not transitioning existing customers to the new pods.

I'm not sure what is up with the new system. I've been a user of the OmniPod UST200 system for 4 years and in that time have maybe last 3 or 4 pods due to random errors or occlusions. I switched to the new UST400 system 43 days ago now and in that time I have had 16 pods fail on me. In fact I have only had 1 pod make it the full 3 days. I am extremely frustrated with the quality of the new system and the frequency of the failures. I have voiced my problems to Insulet directly but the only thing that they will tell me is that the frequency with which they receive pod failure calls has more than tripled since the new system came out but they will not provide any information about the problem or when it will be fixed. At this point I'm looking at switching to another pump system until they get the problems with UST400 worked out. It is very hard to control your diabetes when can't count on the device that is supposed to be giving you your medicine to do it with out failing. I would also recommend to any one else that is on the UST400 to switch until the problems with the pods are resolved.

I have had the exact same experience. My old pods were reliable and the new ones are beeping so often that it is alarming. Customer service is very unhelpful and seemingly unaware that not being to rely on this system is stressful and scary. My a1c has gone up since I started using. About 40% of the new pods have malfunctioned and had to be replaced.

Ditto on the experience w/ pod failures. My son was on old pod since August 12. We switched over to new pod around 10/1/13. Since then have had what seems like a very high pod alarm rate - I'd say 20-25% failure rate. Almost always occurs about 12 hours after putting it on, for no apparent reason. Often in the middle of the night. We rarely had an issue with the old pods - and never an alarm for no apparent reason - the rare failure was due to him bumping it on the playground or something like that. No problem getting the pods replaced - Insulet always quickly sends out a replacement - but they are never able to give any feedback on "why", just "we'll have our engineers look at it when you send it in". Very frustrating & makes me want to dump the whole system when it happens, but we're soldiering on for now. Hopefully it is just a manufacturing issue and they will figure this out.

I went to a TD1 program today and the omnipod rep told the group that mid June was set for existing users to be able to upgrade to the new size. I don't know if that is specific to our geographic area or not but hope it is coming soon for those of you that are waiting patiently!

I just got off the phone with "Justin" at Omnipod Customer Service. My daughter is a current Omnipod user. Her next shipment of Omnipod is scheduled June 25, 2013 and she will NOT be receiving the new POD. Per Omnipod's customer service center, all new PODs are being shipped to new customers ONLY. The soonest Insulet will be sending new PODs to my daughter is in September.

Good evening All! The OmniPod is the first pump that I have had and I think it is fantastic. I am no longer embarassed at work having to take a shot or a penn. I don't have to remember to take needles / syringes with me and it is not at all noticeable... very important to me. With regard to controlling my diabetes, it is much better than the manual system I was using and is helping me bring everything into control - a major problem for me prior to now. I have had no problems with occlusions, or any other pod replacement issues. Not too sure I like the ordering process but I will go through my last box within the next two weeks. I have never talked to anyone about my diabetes... been a bit of a problem for me but now, heck I want to share with the world the fact that we don't have to deal with the pills, changing the number of pills, the cost of the pills (not to say the pod was inexpensive by no means) and giving myself shots or rather not being able to, and in my job, goodness forbid when I had to travel domestically or internationally. The folks at Omnipod helped me with that too and I no longer have issues there either. Thank you for this blog... right now I can say I really love the pod and how it is making my life much easier!

Thank you for your response, Tim. My son is 15 and was diagnosed with T1D on August 8, 2013. Yep, I remember the exact date ( and time if you want it :)) Anyways, I have researched the Omnipod and would really like this for my son. I am researching reviews of the new system and am wondering if this option will work for him. Thanks again!

Good evening All! The OmniPod is the first pump that I have had and I think it is fantastic. I am no longer embarassed at work having to take a shot or a penn. I don't have to remember to take needles / syringes with me and it is not at all noticeable... very important to me. With regard to controlling my diabetes, it is much better than the manual system I was using and is helping me bring everything into control - a major problem for me prior to now. I have had no problems with occlusions, or any other pod replacement issues. Not too sure I like the ordering process but I will go through my last box within the next two weeks. I have never talked to anyone about my diabetes... been a bit of a problem for me but now, heck I want to share with the world the fact that we don't have to deal with the pills, changing the number of pills, the cost of the pills (not to say the pod was inexpensive by no means) and giving myself shots or rather not being able to, and in my job, goodness forbid when I had to travel domestically or internationally. The folks at Omnipod helped me with that too and I no longer have issues there either. Thank you for this blog... right now I can say I really love the pod and how it is making my life much easier!

Thanks for your review, the sad part is my daughter feels very mislead by Insulet Corporation. We had originally wanted to hold off on moving to the Omnipod until the new one came out; but were reassured by both the Omnipod nurse who came to our house and the Omnipod rep who visited later that once the new Omnipod came out we would get it before new users, so it would be to our benefit to start using it right away. The sad thing is that we were flat out lied to and now we will be waiting until Sept. to get the new pod - at the earliest. I have called and spoke to representatives at Omnipod to only hear "we changed our minds" and decided to give it to new customers "who have been waiting for the new Omnipod" (plus they read off a Marketing script that basically said "don't blame us, blame the doctors - they are making us do it"). Insulet is not about the patient, it is about getting new customers while the old customers get pushed to the side. It is truly a sad situation.

The warranty on my son's PDM expires on June 28 at 8 PM. As long as the PDM is still under warranty, Insulet will convert to the new generation PDM free of charge. However, my son gets his pods from Edgepark and they will not be shipping the new pods until July. Insulet will only send out the new PDM only after he received the new pods made for the system and can call Insulet with identifying pod information. Does anyone know if Medco is already sending out the new pods? My son can perhaps switch to Medco before the warranty expiration. He doesn't have the money to purchase a new PDM...just graduated from college. Please email if you have info to share: DABL4@cox.net

Thanks for the informative post. We are researching pumps for our 7 year old. It will be his first pump. I’m wondering how painful the injection is. We are selling the pump to him as a way to go from 5 shots a day to one every 2-3 days with a pump. We are currently using the BD Nano pen needles (4mm x 32G) which he tolerates very well.

TexasDad, the gauge on the introducer needle is 27, so it's a little more painful than a shot, but children will usually take that trade-off! It is a LOT like having a shot every 3 days instead of multiple times a day. Nobody loves being poked, but the autoinsertion makes it very quick to pierce, quick to withdraw, and you're over and done with it. It's very popular with the families in my local parents of T1s group.

I have been using the Omnipod for over two years now. I upgraded to the new "smaller" version recently. They are brilliant. I no longer get pods failing and screaming alarms at me when knocked or just when they want to. The insertion is more of a kick rather than a prick, but hey its a small price to pay!! The PDM is just so funny. Its black rather than blue !! I would certainly hope that Insulet have a go at changing the size and design soon.

my grandson is 9 years old and has been with the Omni pod for almost 3 year! We love it. When he wants a snack when we are out, we don't have to find a corner of the mall, pull out insulin bottle, etc to prepare for his shot! Just check, put in the carbs and go! Long car rides he says "I feel low, I tell him to check himself, ask him what are his numbers, and I tell him how many carbs to put in! Never have to pull over again! Can't wait to get the new smaller pod in a free weeks!!

Melissa, Great post. I too am (evidently) one of the pod wearers that have had too many failures to count. The difference is my failures were "mechanical" in nature. I finally got switched to the "new" system a couple of weeks ago. I wont bore you with the details of how I accomplished this. Just let it suffice to say that it almost took an act of GOD to make it happen...but after using the pod system for 2.5+ years and only having to actually purchase a few boxes of pods (all the rest were replaced after failing) I guess they decided that they were losing too much $$ so they expedited my conversion. I had such HIGH hopes for the new slim pod! To date, out of a box of 10, I have had 5 yes 5 pods FAIL (not occlude)! It is beginning to feel just like old times! I am NOT a fan of tubing + Ins has me locked in, so my only choice is to go back to pens ( If I do that my MD said that he "won't have the time to manage my diabetes") So I'm not sure what I will do.

I am curious to hear if anyone else has had difficulty getting their MD's to look at the pod data via CoPilot?

Thanks for the review. waiting for dx daughter's to arrive on 6/28. Never pumped before, only dx in 12/12. 11 yr old is sick of shots. while she doesn't mind them, she does mind the hassle of hiding to do them bc she is very private. she loves the idea of the PDM looking like a phone and delivering insulin at the table as if sending a text message. Hoping this transition is easy to learn and helps with wonky bg.

Thanks for the review. waiting for dx daughter's to arrive on 6/28. Never pumped before, only dx in 12/12. 11 yr old is sick of shots. while she doesn't mind them, she does mind the hassle of hiding to do them bc she is very private. she loves the idea of the PDM looking like a phone and delivering insulin at the table as if sending a text message. Hoping this transition is easy to learn and helps with wonky bg.

I agree that all the confirmations are annoying, especially the identification page. I KNOW it's my PDM. Is there anyway to opt out of this?? Also, as a hearing impaired person, I was hoping for more vibrating warnings. When changing a pod and they prompt to listen for two beeps - forget it. And is the cannula properly inserted? Your guess is as good as mine.

I'm hearing impaired too and this is one of my biggest beefs! I actually have to rely on my 3 year old or husband to tell me when my pump is beeping. I wish the pod itself vibrated. I'm draining batteries fast because of this. One thing I miss about the Minimed is that if I knew my blood sugars were high in the middle of the night, I could easily bolus and feel the vibrations "confirm" without having to even open my eyes. Unfortunately now I don't bother bolusing in the middle of the night because I don't want to look at a super bright screen, CONFIRM CONFIRM CONFIRM CONFIRM just to give myself a bolus or test blood sugar. Then have a hard time going back to sleep. SIGH. But I sure don't miss the fricking tubing.

Great review, thanks. I've been using Omnipod since July 2010 and hadn't heard a thing about the new pods and system until yesterday when I received the new pdm. I get my pods from a third party company and haven't heard anything from them either so I suppose I'll have to call them and see what's up. I must be still on warranty because there wasn't an invoice in the box.

All those confirmations are going to suck. I get impatient having to wait for the code screen to go away! I have had intermittent problems with pods erroring - rarely I'll get what appears to be a bad box of pods.

Thank you for the review, Melissa! I just wanted to post here that while we, overall, are happy with the omnipod for my 7 year old son, we've had an AWFUL experience with Omnipod customer service. Honestly, if we were going through the process of choosing a pump knowing what I know today I WOULD NOT GET AN OMNIPOD. If anyone is considering switching to omnipod because of the new, smaller pods, I wouldn't recommend it--we received our new pods over a week ago and we are still waiting on the new PDM...omnipod has been super difficult to work with in getting the new PDM, and we've been on the phone with customer service on this issue for hours upon hours.

I have had this system since the end of May. My biggest issue has been pod errors and occlusions. After having used Medtronic for 9 years and rarely experiencing issues with my sets, I have had at least 8 pods occlude and this morning, I had four different pods give me errors, resulting in the loss of 800 units of insulin in under an hour. After the fourth one, I had enough and have been wearing my Medtronic since then. The thing that irritates me is that out of all the bad pods I have experienced, only one has caught the problem during the priming. They are sending me replacement pods, but i do not know how much more of this product I can deal with.

Stop filling the pods as quickly and I doubt you will have this issue... I have been on the system for three year now and I've never had an issue like this. I honestly think most pod errors are caused by people filling the pods too quick, having air bubbles in the syringe, or ignoring the full confirmation beeps and continuing to put more insulin in.

Fill at a steady but somewhat slow pace and I don't think you'll ever have 8 pods occlude in a row.

Sorry but to have that many failures occur in a row, there is definetly hi,an error involved.

I have not had a single pod error in 5 months of consistent use. I'm not doubting ANYONE - I know what it's like to have nothing but problems on a pump because that was me with my t:slim experience - but I have to ask about the priming errors... On the new system, the pod must be TOUCHING the edge of the PDM during the prime. This was not the case on the original system. Is it possible you've had the pod too far away from the PDM during a prime? On their original system, it could be a foot away or so.

I'm so sorry you've had a negative experience on the system. There is almost nothing more frustrating than an insulin pump you can't trust.

I think I am done with Omnipod.... I have had diabetes for over 40 years and started my pumping experience with Omnipod 2 months ago (against the protestations of my Endo and DNE -- who encouraged me to go with minimed). I was elated not to give myself the 5+ daily shots, have no attachments on my belt and loved managing my care with only short acting insulin.However, today I've reached the end of my rope. This system is too unreliable and has fouled up my care repeatedly in a relatively short amount of time. Since I started pumping with Omnipod, I've had more 450 blood sugars than I've had in my whole 40 year diabetic career. The pods quietly stop working and you don't know until you bloods are sky high and you are on the way to the ER.And don't even think about calling the 1-800 number. I was on hold twice for over 50 minutes before a woman read from a script tryimg to blame me for the pod malfunction. The customer service is atrocious. Sadly, I decided today that I will move on from Omnipod and try Minimed. Perhaps I will get safe, more consistent results and service from them.

I have been on omnipod since Dec 2012. I juust down right hate it. The pod falls off every day. When giving a bolus it just shuts off. I have went trough 2boxes of pods in one month. I have been on Minimed for 12 years and never had a problem. I wanted to try omnipod for the pump being tubeless. That is the only thing good about this pump. But there are so many issues with omnipod that they need to figure out. Every time I call costumer service it is always the same thing sorry about your problem. My Dr. is writing a letter to get me back on the minimed pump. I can't wait. Omnipod is the worst insulin pump!!!!!!!

I love my Omnipod!! I was with minimed for 12 years. I felt so free with Omnipod. I have never been able to wear a dress or tight clothes in years. I hate strapping your pump to your leg!! With Omnipod I do get a few looks but I will take that any day!!. I have had my Omnipod for a year and I will never go back!

I have had the new unit for 1 month and have been a pod user for 2 years. Out of 3 boxes of 10 pods I have only had 3-4 that have lasted until empty. Theses pods are erroring out constantly, and I am about ready to scrap the whole thing. Sure they replace them and they have a replacement insulin program but this is not why I subscribe to the system.Type 1 Adult onset

Ok, love hearing from all of you. I have been on the Medtronic pump for 5 years. No problems but its time for a new one so I decided to take a look at the Omnipod because of it being tubeless. I'm not so sure about changing now however. Love the idea, but don't want the hassle.

I started Omnipod on May 20th 2013. I've had type 1 for 40 years and was looking forward to not taking needles anymore. It started out fine than I ran into problems. Occlusions started to happen.Priming was an issue also. I called my omnipod instructor and she gave me some things to try. Don't fill the pod to 200ml try a little less, don't pinch the skin so much. It a little better after that. I replaced the defective pods with new ones they sent me. Those failed also. Then I opened a new box and 8 of 10 were fine. Went to the next box and more failures. 1am starts beeping ,change pod.3am starts beeping change pod. 6am I put a new one seems fine. Send a bolus at lunch everything seems fine. Test 2 hours later blood sugar a little higher than usual. Gave myself 3 units for a snack beeping started again. I stopped using the omnipod August 2 2013. I talked to my dr and she suggests to call my educator and explain what's going on. When it works it's great when it doesn't it's very frustrating.

OmniPod customer support has severely declined since the transition began. Can't reach anyone (customer support, device support/billing)/except if you are a new customer. Sucks for current users to have to wait in line until the company has run out of its older/larger stock before we can enjoy the new system. OmniPod was not equipt to make a smooth transition for users from the old system to the new one. Perhaps they should have waited until they could serve all of their customers/instead of making a money grab. It is yet another frustration for people who live on the edge of frustration daily. Melissa, thank you for your insight/it is very helpful. I look forward to using the new system...if it ever comes.

Just as another Unsulet user I wanted to voice my general displeasure with the pods as a whole over the last three years time. This is what I posted on a baord for my doctor and his patients.

Has anyone who has used OmniPod for over two years found that their level of quality has gone WAY down? The customer service has always been excellent but seems to me the pods are just becoming really bad. Used to be I would have one a year be bad but now it is easy to get two per box that I fail prior to the three day change out. Even the new smaller pods, although nice the constant prompts on the controller that were not there in the original just seems stupid. Every time I want to check my sugar or do anything I have to confirm that the controller is mine??? Was this really an issue for anyone? Do 90% of the OmniPod users go to a conference with 6000 other users and constantly misplace their controller? Although the system as a whole is good, from my past experience to now has been on a steady decline of satisfaction. Used to promote this product but I think that is about to stop.

Guess I am the only one experiencing this.? This morning I have had another pod start giving that annoying constant screech and telling me pod failed, change pod now. One box of pods and this now makes the third failed.

Dr. XXXX, are there any other wireless pumps or other theropies out?

I am starting to have a difficult time recommending this to anyone given the increased rate of failures over the last two to three years. This has shown a trend of becoming their new norm and not just a bad couple of pods.

Long and short I think not only has this new system added things I find really stupid like that confirmation every time I do something that the pod is actually mine...are people commonly hanging out with 600 other omnipod users and losing their controller where this makes sense? Really though it is my gripe that these pods themselves just seem to fail much more frequently than they ever used to.

Thanks for the opportunity to share my opinion not just of the newer pods but Insulet quality going down.

As much as I like the convinience of being tubeless..it has become a nightmare. I have been using Omnipod for more than 3 years and between occlusions, pod error and yes PDM error almost 40% of pods go to waste. Customer service is a joke. If you stay on line you may have to wait for 2 hours to get a service rep. If you choose to leave a message then Good luck. Never thought that a deevice that is so importatnt to me, it will become a pain in the neck,

Hi Melissa! Thanks for sharing! I've been an Omnipod user for 2 years and I'm an avid believer in this pump (it's also the only pump I've ever used). My upgraded Omnipod System will be here in a week. I was introduced to the IV prep only recently, and noticed that the pod would slide off when I went to the gym (and sweated). When I don't use the IV prep - no adhesive issues. Try not using the IV prep and see if you have better and longer adhesion.

My son is new to Omnipod. He had been with Medtronic for 7 years with no problems and excellent customer service. Wish I could say the same now that he has the new Omnipod. He is having several problems with the pods alarming after putting insulin in them. Calling customer service is a joke. He has left message for them to call him back with no luck until I call and wait for someone to answer me and then have them contact him. Customer service has even transferred me over to their corporate office one night and I left a message for them to contact me, I'm still waiting weeks later. Today I wanted to go online and order him more supplies and you can't do that, you have to contact them - so you know how that worked out. Anyone thinking of switching over because of tubeless DON'T DO IT.

I would get off this system ASAP. It is really a terrible pump system in comparison with others. The customer service is inept and is clearly not getting any better. The business practices are horrible and as a registered nurse, I will bend over backwards to dissuade my patients and their families to stay clear of this subpar product. My physician will not promote this product due to my experiences with this product and their inability to maintain clear and concise communication with its customer base.

I have experienced fewer pod failures with the new Omnipod system (started using these in June) than with the old system. A few months ago when I had a pod occlusion and was griping about the loss of insulin, my husband suggested that I try to withdraw the remaining insulin in the pod through the pod insulin insertion point and it worked!! Try it -

My daughter is 12 she has been on the Omnipod since March/2013 and we think it's the greatest thing ever. I have found the only time it has fallen off is while sweating during the summer playing her sports. She swam a ton and we had no problems at all only with sweat. Her favourite spot to wear it is on her back. We just switch sides every 3 days. Our customer service in Canada is amazing. We had a service rep come to our house to teach us how to use it and the rep was a diabetic on the Omnipod. Anyway we've had good luck with it and I would highly recommend it.

Now, onto my rant. I have been using Omnipods for 4 years and AM QUITTING TODAY. I will not longer support a company that exploits and rapes it's customers by 1) charging $75 each for disposable devices that have to get replaced every 2 days (I use 100 units a day) = $15,000 per year.

and

2) decide to change the design of these expensive little pods forcing me to buy another $500 PDM when the one I have (which coincidentally is only 1 year old after the last PDM malfunctioned) is in perfect condition.

I have had seven pod failures in the 4 weeks I have had the new system. This is so unacceptable. While insurance covers most of the cost, it ain't cheap. And when such that many pods fail you, it makes you a bit nervous and wondering if you'll be able to last until the next order of pods...

Wow! I've been on the original OmniPod since it was first introduced (honestly, I was one of the first 500 people to use it), and am now on the new system -- I've NEVER had as many issues as there seem to be. My pods rarely fail and I've never had one fall off my body (i use no IV prep). While I do agree that the PDM could be smaller, and that for those of use who are single pump families the Confirm screen is a pain, I'm still overall super happy with the omnipod!

i'v been on the omnipod for a month now i need to find something to go over the pod so it won't fall off. i been having problems with the pod after taking a shower and it get's loose and don't deliver my insulin good and i don't want to waste the insulin that i allready put in there. i need like second skin clear sticker to put over it can you help me with that.my email add is mbennett003@twcny.rr.com.

I have a five year old who was just diagnosed about a month ago and we were just looking into pumps. We really like the fact that it is wireless and easy to insert, which will make it much easier with a five year old! However, I am reading all these bad reviews and not sure now if this is the way to go...maybe I should wait with the pump and see if they will fix their pod problems??? It is a commitment for 4 years and I don't want to rush into making a decision on one that is not the best for him since we will get stuck with it for a while...please advise!

That's such a personal decision. If you wait for this pod to come out in a new iteration, I should warn you that the gen 1 pod lasted from 2003 to 2010. The new pods were designed in 2010 and didn't come to market for two more years. You are unlikely to see any major design changes any time soon.

That being said, every pump comes with risks. Every pump comes with detractors and people who rave about it. My suggestion is to meet with a rep and get a feel for the device and discuss your concerns. I like the system. I know plenty of people who love each of the pumps out there and plenty of people who have had issues with each pump on the market. I can't predict what your experience will be. All things considered, this is a good pump for a kiddo (but then again, I think all pumps are great for kiddos...with the exception of the touchscreen tslim). Best of luck in your decision making. I always feel a great deal of anxiety leaping into a new pumping system. You're not alone.

Thank you so much for your reply. We did meet with a person who explained and showed us each pump and my husband even put two different ones in to wear on him during the day and see how it feels. He really likes the OmniPod and thinks that one will be the best for our son, but after reading all the problems and the nurse showing it to us said the same, I am really not sold on it. It should make life easier and not more stressful by all the time thinking if it is working or not...

I have to say I am surprised at so many negative comments here, and I feel for the frustration of the people making these comments. However, we started our four year old daughter on the new Pod four months ago after almost a year of MDI. It has been SO LIBERATING! We have had maybe 6 pod failures, and we have had a couple come off - and she swims every week (we have not used "IV Prep" and have no swimming related problems). After doing a test-fit with a number of pumps, we knew we had to at least give the pod a try since she reacted so well to it. We did get some push-back from one of our endo-nurses and we are so glad now that we were insistent on trying it. If it seems right for you or your child, I would encourage you to go for it.We have not dealt with Insulet directly, but have received great service from our local reps. Admittedly we have not used another pump- but, based on the experience of our family, I would wholeheartedly recommend trying it.

I am an adult onset T1D who has been with Medtronic for the last 4 years. Mom of 3 young kids, first grade teacher, and active outdoor person, I started looking at omnipod. Sick of my pump tubing getting tangled, kinked, and caught on anything and everything, I was about to make the leap to Omnipod. Now I am extremely hesitant. The rep I spoke with yesterday was fabulous, but is he my go-to for issues, especially if the official customer service is moot? Also, he did say there is a 45 day return policy-is this long enough to know if it is the system for me? Would love your thoughts?

Hello All, these are quite a few comments here, thanks very much. I have been diabetic for 20 years and have exclusively been using the insulin pens. When I first learned about this pump, this was actually also the first time I considered trying out a pump. I was initially impressed by the features "they" say this pump has and was willing to take on the high cost that I would have to come up with out of pocket, since my employer's health plans are all high deductible plans. So I thought well, if a box of 10 pods lasts for about one month, this would be $245 per month to pay out of pocket and $2,900 per year. Reading all these stories about the non-working pods, I say "no" to this as the estimated cost now quickly goes above and beyond the $2,900 for the pods only. I would have considered trading in the by the health insurer fully paid insulin pens (only $25 co-pay for a 3-months period) with this new devise if the reviews were more promising, but I really don't want to take on the risk of fronting that much money for a product for which I may not even receive help when needed.These reviews are really an eye opener which helped me decide against this product. I see many of the bloggers had experience with other pumps, so is there any good pump that can be recommended to me?It is just so disappointing to realize that no serious investments are done to improve any of the products that are in the market, especially since Diabetes is affecting so many people today. At least I can be assured that with pens I am in control of my bg and not my pump.

Seems like the majority of us like the wireless feature but are so frustrated with the quality of the pods. I am using the new system (my old PDM suddenly quit work...after warranty expired). Took me 6 weeks to get the new system and I was stuck with 4 boxes of old pods. Seems new pod failures run in serial numbers. I usually experience 2-3 pod failures (sometimes more) per box. Few are occlusions and most are pod errors. I immediately call for replacements. They say they'll ship them with my next order but I've learned they don't, so I insist on immediate replacement. I'm 3 years away from Medicare and have learned that Medicare does NOT cover the Omnipod; so guess it will be a tubed-system for me. Overall my satisfaction with the Omnipod is running around 40%. Agree that return calls are rare and wait times are horrific! I sometimes get so frustrated that I leave the Omnipod and use several injections per day. Everyone, but me, in my pump support group uses tubed systems and they love theirs. Am seriously thinking of changing since I'll have to in 3 years anyway.

I've been diabetic for 30 years and started pumping 7 years ago with the wired DexCom, which was okay until my baby daughter, at the time, started pulling it off.

I then moved to the OmniPod, 6 years ago to get rid of the wires. Same occlusion and error issues as others and I work around computers all day. Rarely had an occlusion with the DexCom.

Because of the failure percentage, I had my prescription changed to replace the pod every 1-2 days, rather than 3, so you get more boxes (6 instead of 4).

Against recommendations from Insulet and my endocrinologist, my husband found a way to get all the insulin back out the pod, after a failure. Don't believe that mess about the insulin not being as viable at room temperature and the 3 day thing.Calling Insulet...you pretty much have to act crazy, not rational. This is my routine when I call them to get immediate service, unfortunately, but it is fun.I started the new OmniPod this morning, so we'll see how that goes. It would have been nice if they included a feature to copy a food from the food library to your favorites and increased the expiration days.In all, use wired for minimal errors and an arm or thigh band. Otherwise, use the problematic pods, but get your prescription changed (1-2 days) so that you can make it thru the month. I ended up with 6 more boxes after my prescription ended by doing this and still changing out every 80 hours and getting my remaining 20-40 units out.

I am thrilled to find this blog..so helpful! Also, so affirming in that my daughter (13) who has been pumping with Omnipod for at least four years and who switched to the 400 in August, has had the exact same problem with pods deactivating and occluding regularly. So frustrating for her (and her parents!). She chose the Omnipod bc she is a swimmer and did not want to have to take the pump on and off when she does this several days/week. She also chose it because she was afraid she would get tangled up in the tubing of the other pods while she slept (not so sure this is as legit a reason!). The past five months have been filled with many more high blood sugars, the screeching alarm sounds, etc, than her previous 3 1/2 years. The only thing I got from the Insulet folks when I expressed concern was that she really needed to "squeeze the fat" at her insertion point when she changed her pod. This has not seemed to help. If anyone has learned any other "tricks" which eliminate these new pods deactivating frequently, please share. Thank you all for your thoughts and best to you.

When I swim, I noticed that putting the pod on my butt, instead of leg, arm or back helped. More meat there. I assume your baby is slim. Regardless of where she places the pod, you do have to squeeze the muscle/fat up and push down on the top (I do it hard) when it's in insertion mode. That helped me alot on the old pod.For swimming, drastic changed in temperature against the pod can cause it to fail. Similar to taking a hot bath with it on. Having her "cool it down" first may help. Try standing in the swim shower with the spray against the pod and slowly drop the temp. Sounds goofy and time consuming, but is technically viable.The problem is that they work best at room temp.

My daughter, 13, is having the same frustrating problem of the new pods frequently deactivating or occluding and getting high blood sugars and the frustration of having to change pods way too often. If anyone has heard any "tips" to prevent this issue, please share!

I just ordered my Omnipod yesterday due to the tubeless feature. I kept catching my tube on doorknobs and dressers. A 22mo old did not help either :) I had a lot of issues with my Medtronic pump so I hope the Omnipod is better. Thanks for all the posts here.

Wow, these comments are pretty scary. I am in the beginning stages of getting the Omnipod, but now I'm wondering if I should. Their customer service sounds horrific....how do they justify that? They're screwing around with people's lives here. Might have to cancel......

I started with the Omnipod system because I assumed tubeless was the way to go. I had read reviews about a 30% failure rate on the pods so I called the company and asked about it. She assured the that the failure problems were fixed with the new pods. Keep in mind folks, you only have 45 DAYS to return the system for a refund. Coincidentally....or not,, the pods worked fine until about 60 days later. Then, here's the shocker, I experienced a 30% failure rate EVERY MONTH. I also sat on hold for hours. Everytime I spoke to a person, they said they would reimburse me for the lost insulin (so I sent them the info they requested) but they refused to refund the pump cost. They also said I would receive a call from a manager (which I requested). Well, no shocker here, either. I never got reimbursed nor did I get a phone call. So now I have contacted the Food and Drug Administration and the Boston Better Business Bureau, which is a powerless entity, unfortunately. I then contacted an attorney (friend of a friend) who said to send them a certified letter with a deadline for reimbursement. I got no response again. Now I am going through the Attorney General's office for Ohio and Massachusetts to get assistance. If you want to go through all of this to get reimbursed after they lie to you, then go ahead and go with Omnipod. If you are going through this too, I strongly suggest you contact the Food and Drug Administration so they have data to go after Omnipod. Otherwise, they will keep lying and making money while your blood sugars skyrocket!

Kristine 8 years. Since August 2013 the first type of diabetes. Since December 2013 Christina uses omnipod ust-200 pods.omnipod - our first insulin pump. We also have the experience of the compensation Lantus + Novorapid. Now we can not imagine my life without omnipod. We bought omnipod ust-400, after the pods will end ust-200 (February 2015) move on ust-400. It is a pity that omnipod not sold in Ukraine, we have to buy everything in the United States.Vitaliy,father of Christine

About Me

My name is Melissa Lee and I serve as Interim Executive Director of Diabetes Hands Foundation. I write for the online diabetes magazine A Sweet Life.org where I serve as Tech Editor as well as for my personal blog, Sweetly Voiced. I'm a patient advocate and technology enthusiast, married to a Nightscout core developer, and mom to 2 little kids who stole my heart and my sanity.